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Friday, March 1, 2019

Smartphone or Toilet Seat, Which Would You Kiss?

I think you would all agree that we’ve
become a society attached to our phones and tablets.They go EVERYWHERE
with us and for many may be in our hand from the time our feet hit the floor in
the morning to the time we lay our head on the pillow a night.We use it in the bathroom and the kitchen.It touches our face, we lay in on our desk,
on the restaurant table at lunch and of course we pick it up off the ground
after we’ve dropped it.

Did you know that our beloved phones are
dirtier than toilet seats?In fact a 2011
study found that 1 in every 6 phones have poop on them.Whose phone have you used lately because you
may have shared more than you had intended!Why are our phones so dirty?Aside from being addicted to our phones, we also happen to touch more
surfaces than any other generation in history.We have ATM machines, self-checkout kiosks, every keypad we use for our
debit or credit cards and the list goes on.Our hands are everywhere and with that comes a transfer of germs from
surfaces to our hands to our phones.While we may wash our hands before we eat do we wash our phone before we
use it?Nope.We like to eat the poop and rub our lips in
whatever germs are found on our electronic best friends.

So why don’t we clean them?Well, they don’t really come with cleaning instructions
and even if you are a germophobe and want to clean your phone, finding credible
instructions or instructions that will actually do something can be relatively
impossible.If you’re an Apple user you
can be happy to know that they do not recommend any form of liquid, detergent
or disinfectant.Google says it’s okay
to use household soap and Motorola suggests using a microfiber cloth and a
little water.

The problem is these instructions really do
not take into account how to manage devices we use in healthcare (human or
animal) settings. The truth of the
matter is that cellphones are going to have bacteria on them because we have
bacteria naturally occurring on our skin and our normal flora isn’t a cause for
concern.It’s the viruses we put on them
from coughing while we talk or from using our phones after using the restroom
and not washing our
hands or from touching surfaces in a patient’s room and then using
our electronic devices.We need to do
more than wiping with a microfiber cloth, using a cleaning cloth and water or a
cleaning cloth and household soap.We
are dealing with antibiotic resistant bacteria and pathogens that giggle at our
belief that a dry cloth is sufficient to kill them. Even though microfiber
cloths have been shown to remove pathogens, is it enough?According to a 2014 study,
disinfectant wipes could be effectively used for disinfection without
negatively impacting the appearance or functionality of the iPads used in the
test.

So what do I do?Well, since my kitten likes to play games on
my iPad and we know cats don’t necessarily have the cleanest feet and I also
have a 10 year old germ infested son, you can be sure that I use a disinfectant
wipe that I trust to kill what I want gone in as quick a time as possible.My phone and iPad are just fine.The truth is, I value my health more than I
value my electronic device, but I also make sure that I’m not letting any
liquid get into areas it shouldn’t be!